Hey Babe,
Up with the alarm early, and just about had time to do all my chores and have breakfast before the work day was supposed to begin. James got here right on time, but everybody else showed up a lot later, which was find because it wasn’t supposed to get too hot today, so I guess no one was worried about that. I had a camper come in last night and stop right in the middle of the road, but realized this morning it was because he got stuck in the sugar sand and couldn’t get out. Unfortunately, when I came out to do my rounds I found him trying to work his way out, but of course, he only made it worse and was practically dug down to the axle by the time I got there. We tried to pull him out with my truck, but it was too deep. I told him I had a tractor coming and to hang tight and we’d get him out, but he and some of the fellow campers kept at it, jacking him up and putting boards underneath until he appeared to be cleared enough, then I came back and pulled him out with my truck more easily. And that was just the start to the day! As people came in, I assigned tasks, and we ended up getting a lot done. The last manure bin was built, a bunch of the chewed and broken boards in Barn Two were replaced, and lots and lots of palm fronds and palm trees were taken down, some of it moved next to the dumpsters so people can burn them, and some taken back to a big pile down by the pond. We found a lot of rosary pea plants, which are poisonous to horses, so James and I started to develop a strategy to get rid of it, but it will take some time. I went into town and picked up more screws and lunch for everyone, as well as drinks and chips, then got more work out of folks in the afternoon. Long day! Dennis kindly chainsawed some new blocks for my ramp, which was great. Then we started having problems with the water in the shower house again, and after several attempts to solve the problem, we ended up having to close the shower house again. This water system really needs to be completely reconfigured! Anyway, it was after 8:00 by the time I got back to the trailer, I was feeding horses during mosquito hour, but I’ve finally settled down. Lunch was big, so a bowl of ice cream and a couple of spoonfuls of peanut butter, plus a beer, will do me for the night! I’ve got a busy morning tomorrow, too, to get ready for a Zoom seminar I’m facilitating tomorrow. Heading for the shower and bed asap tonight! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

HI Sweetie,
All this exercise, I slept a full eight hours and could have stayed in bed longer, but I had a bunch of things to do today, so I got up and got to it! After my rounds, chores and breakfast, I started with a lot of little stuff, like putting hooks back on the closet door that had fallen off, and resealing the bedroom window, which, despite putting a new seal on it last year, leaked like a sieve when the rain came right up against it the other day. I found that some of the black seal underneath and broken through the clear seal on top, maybe from screwing it in too tight or something, though I hadn’t noticed it before. Hopefully that’s fixed now. During the afternoon I painted the three wheelbarrow with stencils for SFWMD, then I printed up some paperwork for tomorrow’s work day, so everyone can sign in and order lunch. I hope we have a good turnout again, though there’s a bit less work tomorrow, which is probably good because I think I overworked them last time :-). We’ll see! So after all my puttering and another round through the campground, I settled down for the evening. I’m definitely going to bed early tonight, since I called for this to start at 8:00 in the morning, so it will be an alarm for me for sure! So I’ll say good night now, I still have my rounds and a Spanish lesson to do (I figure I’ll have more use for Spanish anyway, plus it’s a lot easier than French!), and I need to get to it. Goodnight, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
A pretty good night sleep, then chores, then James got here just before 10 and we headed into town to buy up a bunch of spray paint for the trails. Then he took me over to their maintenance area where he showed me all the stuff they have lying around, all the posts and gates and fencing, and bunches of signs that are just hanging out in the shed. It’s a drop off area for whatever junk they don’t want anymore, but there’s some stuff that’s salvageable as well. Lots of big equipment, a lot they don’t use anymore, so just rotting away at the moment. He has plans to clean a lot of that up this summer, get rid of what they’re not using. We grabbed some signs and arrows that I can use on the trail. Now that I have paint I can get busy marking trails, which I feel like I’ve been waiting weeks to do! Can’t wait! Also got some stencils so I can paint the wheelbarrows and manure rakes with SFWMD just to hopefully prevent them from getting taken, though so far, we haven’t had a problem with that. Then we had a meeting with a couple from the Palm City equestrian group, sort of a power couple that James learned has a lot of influence and connections that can hopefully help us in a number of ways, and it was a great meeting. I think we’ll be able to get a lot done with their help as well. It was a beautiful day today, after that front moved through yesterday, and even better tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to getting back on the trail again. Not sure if I’m going to take Flash or Apollo tomorrow, I’ll see how they are in the morning. Anyway, I still have my last rounds to do, and my shower to take before bed, so I’ll say good night now. Love you, darlin’!

Hi Hon,
Well, I had to reset the GFI fault on the well pump several times today, there must be some load on the line somewhere that’s causing it to trip. I was surprised at the number of campers that came in today, I thought after Easter it would drop off, but it was pretty busy today. I took some time in the morning to measure all the boards that need replacing in Barn 2, as well as checking out the water spigots, James was talking about replacing the framework around them, so I figured out what we needed for that, too, though there’s one that’s in pretty good shape that doesn’t have a spigot inside it anymore, so I’m thinking we could dismantle it and use the boards to fix up the other ones that need it. James ended up having another meeting after his first one, and it took all afternoon, so we didn’t get a chance to go shopping, which is too bad because I was really looking forward to getting out on the trails tomorrow to start marking them. A front came through this afternoon, which brought some heavy thunderstorms and quite a bit of rain, yay! Didn’t last long, but dumped a lot in a short time, which we needed desperately, it hasn’t rained in months! Since I’m on concrete, I didn’t have my screen room pegged into the ground like I usually do, so that was whipping around in the winde, and I had a pretty good leak in my bedroom window that I’m going to have to check out. You remember I resealed it last year, I’m disappointed that it’s leaking, but it might be an easy fix. I hope so! So other than welcoming campers and flipping the switch for the well pump, it ended up being a pretty boring day. We’re schedule to go shopping in the morning, hopefully this time it will come to pass, and maybe I can even get some of the trail done tomorrow, though I doubt it, but that’s okay, since it’s supposed to be cooler for a couple of days. I hope I can get everything done that I want to get done by the end of the week, then we have the workday, then I have to start planning my departure, which will probably be within two weeks of that. I’m not going to rush north, though, because everytime I look at the forecast for upstate NY, they’re still calling for snow! But northern Florida, GA and SC are starting to look pretty good. No rush, I’ve got a sweet setup now, with 50 amp electric, big paddock and easy water access, so I’m not in that much of a hurry, but I am looking forward to some new trails. Besides, I’ll be back in the fall, and that will come in the blink of an eye! Not sure if I’ll find any new places to go in NYS, but I supposed I can bounce around between Sugar Hill, Brookfield and Otter Creek during the hottest part of the summer, then ease my way south after that. Maybe I’ll find someplace new, we’ll see. Anyway, time for shower and bed. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Got to bed kind of late, so got up a little late, but I had every intention of going riding this morning, but as soon as I was getting hay for the horses, one of the campers came by to tell me that the water in the shower house wasn’t working, so I ended up going over there and looking it over. At first, I couldn’t find anything wrong, it seemed like an electrical problem rather than a water problem, so I closed it all up and put signs on it to use the other bathhouse. Then I took another look at it, and eventually found that the GFI on one of the electrical outlets out in the pump area had clicked off, so I reset it and that seemed to solve the problem.By the time I did that and had breakfast, it was getting too hot to ride, so once again, I ditched it, and spent the afternoon reading, on the computer and binge-watching TV. Figured I’ll get busy again tomorrow. Supposed to go shopping with James for trail-marking supplies, so I should be out on the trails by Tuesday morning doing that. There’s a cool front coming in tomorrow afternoon, so Tuesday it should be really nice, perfect for riding and marking. If I can get yellow and white mostly done Tuesday, the rest shouldn’t take too long, they’re mostly in better shape. But I’m going to have to take better note of where we want to put posts and arrows where they are really needed, until we can get the better intersection markers approved. Anyway, getting past my bedtime, so good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Got up pretty early this morning, I had a busy morning shopping. I discovered the Ace Hardware in Indiantown sold hay, so in an effort to save myself a trip to Okeechobee, I went in and checked it out. It wasn’t too bad, though the bales were pretty small, so I bought ten for now. Then I went to the Tractor Supply because I had completely run out of Flash’s food last night, they didn’t even get any breakfast except hay this morning, and also to pick up the Balance that I had ordered, only to discover that the manager had trouble finding it so he hadn’t ordered it. I waited for him to get back from running an errand and helped him walk through finding the right stuff, and he says he’s going to order it on Monday so hopefully I’ll get it before I run out of the one bag I have left. After that I went to the IGA to do some grocery shopping. Even though things are a bit more expensive there, it saves me all those miles, so I figure at over $5.00 a gallon for diesel, I’m spending less in the long run. By the time I got back it was getting too hot to do much else, so I ended up hibernating in my air conditioning and binge-watching Friday Night Lights, did a few rounds through the day, had to straighten out one young guy who had hooked up his hose to a shared spigot and was washing his RV. I explained that there were no hookups, and that considering we haven’t had rain in three months and are in a drought, it wasn’t a good idea to waste water on vehicle washing, very diplomatically, of course. Had a couple of conversations with some of the horse folks, but other than that, it was a pretty quiet, even boring day. You see, I’m getting ready to move on, because you know how I hate boring! Anyway, just got back from my 10:00 gate walk, time for shower and bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Didn’t do very much today, except have a meeting with James discussing various things about the trails and the camp and my hosting and so on. The rest of the day was mostly checking folks in, since it’s Easter weekend and there’s a hog hunt going on, though there were still a lot of empty spaces despite the fact that all the permits were out. Once again, lots of people make reservations and then don’t show up or cancel them. Nevertheless, there were quite a few folks here, so I had to keep making rounds. Did my bookkeeping and put some things away, that was pretty much my big activity for the day. I’m starting to hanker for a road trip, starting to get in a bit of a rut here, even though I’m doing a lot of good. I promised James I’d stay through at least when the mowers come in early May, and I’m also waiting to find out when my Vegas job gets rescheduled, was hoping it would be before mid-May so I can leave my critters with my brother while I’m gone, but it’s going to be getting really hot down here by then, so we’ll see. So it’s been a mundane day, and you know easily I get bored when I have too many of those, which is why I’m starting to plan my trip north. Meanwhile, shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
While I had great plans to get a bunch of little stuff done and go for a ride, in the end, I just didn’t feel like doing anything, so I just lazed around all day. Other than greeting some campers, I pretty much just binge-watched TV and ate today. Not much else to report! A nice change, though! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Well, the day you always dreaded has come and gone! You know how focused I have to be on taxes, and I’m sorry that sometimes made me grumpy, but I got it done today! Been hanging over my head, but glad it’s over. I even managed to do a couple of loads of laundry as well, nice to have electric so I can use my dryer and not have to run my generator, so a productive day. Getting myself a routine here at camp, so I can check on everyone a couple of times a day, then before I go to bed, check the front gate. Haven’t gotten to that yet, but I will. Settled down for some more Friday Night Lights, my current binge, feeling a lot more relaxed than I have in awhile. I might even take a ride tomorrow, one without an agenda! Won’t that be nice! Meanwhile, just enjoying a beautiful evening, won’t be long out of bed. Good night, my love!

Hi Sweetie,
Another morning of sleeping in, a lot later than I had planned, but I was up in time to say good-bye to Steve as he finished packing and headed up to Hickory Hammock. I started breaking down, though I mostly just piled stuff up to be moved later. After Steve left, James and the new Land Manager Andrew came by and we had a very productive meeting about the map and the future of the trails. After they left, I headed into Indiantown with my little horse trailer and my propane tanks, since I found it was the valve stem that was leaking so I went to the tire store and got that fixed. Amazingly, they didn’t charge me a thing, even though they put on a nice metal valve stem! Surprised me there. But they also pointed out that the other tire on the same driver’s side is looking like it’s ready to shred, so I’m going to have to have that replaced, though I figure I’ll wait until I need it next season, since it’s just going to be parked for the summer back at Jeff’s anyway. Then I went to the Tractor Supply, only to learn no one has yet been trained on how to dispense propane (it was only a “soft” opening, they didn’t have everything up and running yet), so I had to go to Suburban where I got one of the three tanks filled. Now that I’m going to be on a full hookup, I won’t be using much propane anyway, but I didn’t want to be left with only one tank. I had to wait for someone to fill it, but at least they didn’t tell me I had to drop it off and pick it up later! Then a quick stop at the post office to send off a package, then back to camp. I dropped off the little horse trailer next to the shed where James had suggested, then hooked up the big trailer and moved it into the Camp Host spot. I am WAY too long for this spot! Even parked as close as I could to the carport (too close, actually, because I can’t open my back doors all the way, but enough for my purpose), my front stanchions are way in front of the concrete slab, and my screen room is hanging over the fence. I put out my carpet but it’s in the wrong place because someone put this weird eyehook sunken in the concrete, evidently it’s supposed to be used to hook straps onto to keep a trailer from flying off in a hurricane or something. It’s right next to the door, so I have to be careful not to trip over it! So not the most ideal setup, but at least I have 50 amp service, which helps. I finally finished that setup, then moved all my hay over and tucked that back under the gooseneck, so all is back to how it was before. Then I took a walk around (my rounds, I guess!) and checked in with everyone that was here. I made up a sheet for the week so I could keep track of when folks are leaving which helped. The plumber came today, and was supposed to be working on leaky faucets in the newer showerhouse, which have been leaking, and lo and behold, they were still leaking! I had to close up two of the showers and turn off the water to them, again. Finally, I moved the horses from the paddock they’ve been in to another one a little closer, and that had some grass in it. The old one is well and truly fertilized, so I’m betting it will have some GREAT grass in there by the end of the rainy season! Got them fed, then made myself some dinner and settled down for the evening. I’m going to take one last walk out to make sure the gate is closed, a good suggestion made by Steve, since it seems a lot of people don’t lock the gate behind them very well, then I’m heading for my shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!